A Navy veteran struggling to make ends meet after Hurricane Florence damaged his North Carolina home has received a new roof free of charge.
Navy veteran Hank Weaver, of Wilmington, suffered from a leaky roof since 2018 when Hurricane Florence impacted the area and could not afford to fix the roof while paying for his girlfriend’s cancer treatments, the Wilmington Star News reported.
Weaver spent 20 years serving in the Navy before retiring from service in 2004, and his father built the home in 1973. Weaver’s son followed in his footsteps and is stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, serving in the Navy on active duty.
Weaver’s girlfriend, who was battling stage four breast cancer at the time, encouraged Weaver to apply for Monarch Roofing’s “Roof for Troops” giveaway. The giveaway, in its first year, picks a deserving veteran and gifts him or her a roof.
“You feel honored to be a part of giving something back to a family or a person who has given so much to us, their service for our country,” Monarch Roofing General Manager Kenny Matheny told WECT.
When they learned he had won the giveaway, it was a bittersweet moment for Weaver because his girlfriend passed away soon after the roof was installed.
“My girlfriend was in the hospital at the time, and I told her. We were excited,” Weaver told Spectrum News. “She had complications and about a week later. six days after they gave us the roof, she passed away.”
But Weaver does admit the roof put a smile back on his face.
“It’s hard to put into words how grateful I am,” said Weaver.